Related

This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global-news site that
translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The article
below was originally published inLa Stampa.

Lea Garofalo's life and death seem to be part of a Greek tragedy  or a
crime novel. Her story, however, is all too real. A woman from Calabria, Italy,
Garofalo flipped on her mobster husband's family, going to the police with
details about numerous crimes. In revenge, the Mafia kidnapped her from the
center of Milan, killed her, and dissolved her body in acid. This story is
not being told in a book, but in a Milan Court of Justice, where the trial
against six men charged for Garofalo's murder has just begun. (See how Italy's Mafia is going global.)

"You will get involved in this trial, because this is a tragic human story,"
Milan District Attorney Maurizio Tatangelo told the jurors. Garofalo's
husband Carlo Cosco is accused of killing his ex-wife with the help of his
relatives. Their 19-year-old daughter Denise will testify against her
father, two of his brothers and her ex-fiancé. All of the men are
accused of murdering her mother.

In 1996, Garofalo left her husband after he was arrested. In 2002, she
decided to cooperate with the police, telling them everything she knew about the
murders and extortions that Cosco and her other mobster family members had
carried out. Garofalo and her daughter spent years in a witness-protection
program.

In April 2009, the then 37-year-old Garofalo stopped cooperating with the
police. Maybe she knew that Cosco was close to finding her. A policeman had
reportedly revealed her location. Garofalo tried to get in touch with
Cosco, who allegedly asked his bosses within the 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate
for permission to kill her. (See the top 10 dangerous mobsters.)

In May 2009, a man disguised as a repair technician entered Garofalo's house
under the guise that he needed to check her washing machine. He attacked
and tried to choke Garofalo. Denise, who was not at school, saved
her mother. The girl will testify at the trial. "I am proud to cooperate
with the police. It is not easy to testify against your own father, but this
is a choice for my own freedom and to restart my life," she said in a
statement read by her lawyer, Enza Rando.

At some point between Nov. 24 and 25 in 2009 Garofalo disappeared. Milan's security cameras filmed her last movements. At 6:37 p.m. she got into a car. She was brought to a warehouse, and between Nov. 26 and 28, her body was dissolved in acid.

The accused are pleading not guilty. Cosco's lawyer Daniel Sussaman claims
his client was trying to find his ex-wife because he wanted to see his daughter, not to kill the woman. The trial is ongoing.